DC TV Watch: 'Supergirl' Deals a Game-Changing Emotional Blow

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The Hollywood Reporter rounds up the major twists, epic fights and big reveals on all the DC Comics TV shows.

Welcome back to The Hollywood Reporter's weekly DC TV Watch, a rundown of all things DC Comics on the small screen. Every Saturday, we round up the major twists, epic fights, new mysteries and anything else that goes down on TheCW's Arrow, The Flash, Legends of Tomorrow, Supergirl and Black Lightning andFox's Gotham. This week, THR breaks down all the epic moments from this week's midseason return of Supergirl, Arrow and Black Lightning, plus new episodes of Gotham's final season and The Flash.

Supergirl

The big news: Supergirl ended its midseason premiere on quite the emotional twist, as Alex (Chyler Leigh) agreed to have her mind wiped by J'onn J'onzz (David Harewood) of all her memories of Kara (Melissa Benoist) being Supergirl.

What it means: As the DEO and government continued to push forward in trying to discover Supergirl's secret identity, Col. Haley (April Parker Jones) brought in a truth-seeking alien with abilities that no human could resist. That meant the handful of DEO agents who did know Kara is Supergirl were at risk of spilling her secret. So they all agreed to have their minds wiped of that secret to protect Kara, and unfortunately Alex knew she had to as well. But for her, that meant having J'onn take away all her childhood memories of Kara using her abilities too, changing her sisterly bond at its core.

The relationship that is the heart of this series has always been Alex and Kara, and now that the show is taking away that depth, everything will change. The tragic blow dealt with this twist is as brilliant as it is heartbreaking. The show should commit to this and not reverse the decision anytime soon to achieve maximum emotional impact. As much as it sucks to see Kara cut off from the one person she trusts and relies on the most, the creative potential is too great to have Alex get her memories back next week. Play this right and follow it through!

Other noteworthy moments: Red Daughter Kara finally made her return in this week's episode, and it's clear that she's been training nonstop. But for what? Could the Russians be training her to go up against her counterpart in National City for an alien doppelganger showdown? And as for their "friend" who can control her, odds are it's already someone that viewers have seen or know is coming. Which perhaps brings things to the next bit of business:

Check out the photo below of Jon Cryer's Lex Luthor from his first appearance on March 17, when he reaches out from prison to enlist Lena (Katie McGrath) into one of his plans and will stop at nothing to get her on board, even if that means leveraging the life of one of her friends. Sounds like there might be a connection to Red Daughter there, no?

Arrow

The big news: Felicity's (Emily Bett Rickards) murderer was maybe kind of revealed. But only maybe and only kind of. In this week's flash forward, the future Rene (Rick Ramirez) was revealed to be the corrupt mayor of The Glades, and his right-hand man Kevin Dale (Raj Paul) seemed to admit to "taking care of" Felicity and her plans to bomb the city.

What it means: Rene did not seem all that shocked at Kevin's casual reveal, and he also didn't seem all that upset either. And knowing Felicity, she probably figured out a way to fake her death (still not convinced she's actually dead). Is Rene in on Felicity's plan? Or is he so far gone and estranged from Team Arrow that he truly wouldn't care about Felicity's murder as long as it didn't affect his status and his precious city?

Other noteworthy moments: In the present-day storyline, Rene couldn't be any further from his future self, playing Diggle (David Ramsey) to Emiko Queen's (Sea Shimooka) Oliver (Stephen Amell). When Emiko was injured during a mission, she was forced to finally accept Rene's help just like Oliver did back in season one. It took some time, but she eventually let Rene in, allowing viewers to finally learn her story. Turns out she was the product of an actual love relationship between her mother and Oliver's father, but they were abandoned and forgotten. When her mother was murdered a year back, her mission became to find the person responsible. She's even got a little list of names just like her older brother! And Arrow isn't holding back on when that explosive confrontation between the former and new Green Arrows is going to happen, as Oliver found Emiko at their father's grave at the very end of the episode. Who wants to bet that Emiko isn't going to be so accepting of her brother as he was of her? No matter what happens next, it's clear that Arrow is setting up an entirely new era for the show and fast.

The Flash

The big news: Barry (Grant Gustin) almost let loose after Cicada (Chris Klein) broke Nora's (Jessica Parker Kennedy) back, effectively paralyzing her for an extended amount of time. Summoning the power of three lightning bolts, an enraged Barry almost delivered an instantly fatal punch in revenge. He stopped just in time to see that his daughter had finally fully healed and he didn't need to cross that line and become a murderer. Cicada, of course, got away, but it was an eye-opening moment for the character's potential.

What it means: This was truly the first time fans have seen what Barry can really do with his powers. He's able to summon so much electricity and run so fast that he can deliver a killing blow in a single move. With all the villains he's come up against before, no matter how bleak and impossible the stakes have seemed, he's never even come close to that line, let alone thinking about crossing it. Will this knowledge of his true power change Barry going forward? Or has he always known what he can do, and just had such a strong moral code that he never even considered doing it until his daughter's life was threatened? Parent Barry is definitely a new side to the character that keeps on delivering surprise after surprise.

Other noteworthy moments: Caitlin(Danielle Panabaker) is one step closer to creating a metahuman cure now that she's got some of Cicada's blood from his earlier fight. And despite her promise to her icier other half, Killer Frost, that means someone on Team Flash is also one step closer to taking it, willingly or not. This Chekhov's gun isn't just a red herring.

Black Lightning

The big news: In what may be the series' most brutal moment yet, Khalil (Jordan Calloway) became paralyzed, and actually much worse, after turning himself over the authorities to save Jennifer (China Anne McClain) from getting caught in the crossfire between him and Tobias Whale (Marvin "Krondon" Jones III). Tobias sent his assassin to ambush the handoff and had Khalil brought back to him in handcuffs. That's when Tobias literally lifted Khalil up by his back and ripped out his cybernetic spine implant. He then had Khalil dropped off, helpless, immobilized, bleeding out through the giant gaping hole in his back and crying for help in the middle of the street in the most disturbingly tragic scene.

What it means: Will Khalil even survive the injury? This is way worse this his previous injury, caused by a bullet to the spine. He might not even be able to live through this, let alone sit up or walk. The ramifications of Khalil's injury will be more than Tobias may realize, however. Jennifer is more than likely going to try to go after Tobias herself for revenge, having just made up with Khalil and falling for him once again. To come so close to love and happiness only to have it literally ripped away so soon is probably going to make Jennifer embrace her powers in a way she never has before, if only to avenge Khalil. This could be the reason why she ultimately suits up this season as Lightning.

Other noteworthy moments: The final scene of this week's episode showed Tobias learning that four "super" metahumans are somewhere in Freeland, being kept alive in pods. He learned this via that mysterious green briefcase from the season one finale, which was finally revealed to be a computer keeping tabs on the "Masters of Disaster." Comic book fans know that these are superpowered villains who offer their assassin services for the right price, and are Black Lightning's (Cress Williams) enemies. With the recent announcement that Hosea Chanchez is joining this season as the DC Comics villain Shakedown — one of the Masters of Disaster who works for the ASA — all the pieces are finally coming together. Now the only question is: Is Shakedown one of the metas in the pods, or are there four additional super metas waiting to be woken up?

Gotham

The big news: James Gordon (Ben McKenzie) and Barbara (Erin Richards) are back together?!

What it means: Well, THR called it a few weeks back, but it didn't make the episode-ending hook-up between these former flames any less shocking. With all the Gordon/Barbara bonding scenes in the past few episodes, a crazy thought was that the show was laying the groundwork for an eventual romantic reunion by the series finale. Little did anyone know it would come as soon as this! With Gordon feeling estranged from everyone, guilt over the Haven bombing and rejection from his people defecting to Penguin's (Robin Lord Taylor) leadership, he was starting to feel pretty lonely. Barbara's recent help and cunning understanding of his headspace in that exact moment drove him to lock lips with her. Will this last, or is this a one-time, rage- and alcohol-fueled fling? Barbara started off the series as Barbara Gordon ... could she actually end it right back in the same place? It's looking more and more likely.

Other noteworthy moments: Selina (Camren Bicondova) seemingly got her revenge on Jeremiah (Cameron Monaghan), tracking him to the gang that was trying to kidnap kids to dig a tunnel out of Gotham a few episodes back. She snuck up wearing Harley Quinn's (Francesca Root-Dodson) mask and stabbed Jeremiah over and over again. He looked pretty dead, but she didn't have time to make sure if he was actually dead as she escaped the angry gang with Bruce (David Mazouz) and Alfred (Sean Pertwee). The general rule of TV deaths is that if you don't see the body, the death isn't real. Viewers definitely saw the body, but characters have come back from the dead before on this show. And of everyone, Jeremiah is the most likely to come back from the dead to continue wreaking havoc. The Joker can't die before Batman officially arrives in the series finale.

Note: Supergirl airs Sundays; Arrow and Black Lightning air Mondays; The Flash airs Tuesdays; and Legends of Tomorrow returns in April on The CW. Gotham airs Thursdays on Fox.